Thursday, June 30, 2016

Phantom limb syndrome

Reading about the rubber hand illusion led me to think about phantom limb syndrome, and how similar they are in terms of brain processes and conscious reactions. The rubber hand illusion is a non-painful experiment that replaces someone's real limb with the sight of a fake, rubber limb. After a few minutes of stroking the rubber limb, the person begins to experience sensations, feeling as though the rubber limb is real. This is because the brain reorganizes itself to compensate for the original missing limb. The same happens in phantom limb syndrome. The limb that no longer exists often "hurts" or is in pain. One temporary cure for this phantom pain is to place a mirror parallel to the intact limb, so that it looks as though there are two limbs. This allows the brain to reorganize itself and eliminates the pain. The brain's plasticity is intriguing and presents new and exciting theories every day. Below I have attached a video that explains the mirror therapy for phantom limb syndrome.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrqi1B9Xbt0

1 comment:

Element of thoughts # 1: Questions which target purpose What is your, my, their purpose in doing________? What is the objective of this assignment (task, job, experiment, policy, strategy, etc.)?Should we question, refine, modify our purpose (goal, objective, etc.)?What is the purpose of this meeting (chapter, relationship, action)?What is your central aim in this line of thought?What is the purpose of education?Why did you say…?

The purpose of choosing the topic Prosopagnosia is because I find it interesting that some people are able to recognize faces more than others. To understand this topic, one must understand the definition of Prosopagnosia. Prosopagnosia is a form of visual agnosia in which the people cannot recognize faces. The objective of this assignment was to choose a topic that interested me, and Prosopagnosia is certainly something that I found interesting because I am personally horrible with faces. One may question the morality of this finding because of the unethical values due to research such as psychologists Charles Gross, who based this decision on research that showed removing parts of the IT cortex in monkeys affected monkey ability to recognize objects. The central aim in this line of thought is that people with temporal lobe damage may be susceptible to Prosopagnosia. In the video, Terry Sweener, has Prosopagnosia when she damaged part of her temporal brain when she was on duty as a firefighter. The purpose of education can be helpful because understanding the risks and consequences of head damage on an individual. I would say that people should be aware of the severity of head injuries because it can honestly effect the way you perceive things.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwCrxomPbtY

Element of thoughts # 2: Questions which target purpose What is your, my, their purpose in doing________?What is the objective of this assignment (task, job, experiment, policy, strategy, etc.)?Should we question, refine, modify our purpose (goal, objective, etc.)?What is the purpose of this meeting (chapter, relationship, action)?What is your central aim in this line of thought?What is the purpose of education?Why did you say…?

The purpose of choosing the topic Anosmia is because I find it interesting that some people have the inability to smell. To understand this topic, one must understand the definition of Anosmia. Anosmia is the loss of the sense of smell, either total or partial. I find it interesting that the participants in this video are not affected by their disability. I also find it interesting that in their opinion, their lack of smell does not affect their sense of taste. One thing that both parties did wish they could do was smell fire or gas leaks in case of emergency. They were actually positive about their inability to smell because this meant that they did not have to be exposed to unpleasant smells in the world. The central aim in this line of thought is that people with nasal cavity damage may be susceptible to Anosmia. The purpose of education can be helpful because the inability to smell is not really a chronic disability. I would say that people with Anosmia aren’t suffering from a debilitating disability. However, it is unfortunate that they cannot smell the beautiful things in the world.

Perception

The psychology of Perception involves the interaction of our senses and our conscious mind. Perception is involved in every aspect of our lives as we make decisions and judgments based on what we experience. If you study diligently you will leave this course with a broad understanding of sensation and perception. From this general understanding you will be able to further investigate areas of interest by means of literature review and research on specific topics.